Iremía
Iremía is the campaign world of Ending Tranquility. It's the center plane of existence, known as the Material Plane that resides between the Elemental Chaos (from whose energy the planet was formed) and the Astral Sea (where the Gods reside). Iremiá means World of Peace in Elvish. The world was named by astronomers of the ancient elven Celestial Empire when they discovered how peaceful the planet's creation was in comparison to the other planets. History Creation During the Dawn War, many planets were formed by the cataclysmic confrontation between Gods and Primordials. Iremía was different. Io, the Dragon God, had grown tired of witnessing all the bloodshed and death. He decided to focus his attention to a world far away from the conflict. This world was still a smoldering rock and Io quickly realized his divine powers could not control the influence of the Elemental Chaos completely. It was then that a Primordial offered him help, claiming to have also grown tired of the constant fighting. Whenever the other deities would allow it, Io would go to Iremía and give shape to the world. He raised mountains, planted trees and filled oceans. Every now and then the Primordial would show up. He would drive back the lightning storms, empty the lava lakes and calm the young world's many storms. While Iremía was taking shape slower than the other worlds, Io looked with pride as Iremía formed in peace. He formed a pact with the Primordial, promising to never attack one another. It was near the end of the Dawn War when Io finally considered Iremía ready for sentient life. He spread his own creations, the dragons and the dragonborn, through out this world. Dragons are creatures of Elemental power, but they were created by Io alone. The Primordial grew jealous as he saw Io's understanding of the Elemental Chaos grow, and so he plotted to destroy Io. Eventual Betrayel Whenever Io left to fight in the Dawn War, he would leave his two only children in command of Iremía. Bahamut and Tiamat ruled together in peace, until the Primordial finally struck. He came from down below, exploding from within a mountain. He introduced himself to the dragons as the Terror King and promised to slaughter all of them. The dragons fought bravely, but none could withstand the power of a Primordial; not even Bahamut and Tiamat combined. Forests burned, mountains toppled and craters formed where-ever the Terror King went. When Io finally returned and witnessed the destruction the Terror King had caused, it was already too late. Nearly all of the dragons were killed while the others had fled, leaving only Io's two children fighting bravely against the Primordial. Enraged by this betrayel, Io confronted the Terror King and tried to destroy him. But with every step the Primordial made, and with every blow he dealt, a part of Iremía burned. Io cared too much about the world to go all out, and so he was slain by the Terror King - split right in the middle by the Primordial's blade. The two halves of the dead God's corpse sent out a spark, each igniting the divine essence within Io's children. Bahamut and Tiamat ascended to godhood and for what one God wasn't enough: two was more than enough. Enraged by the death of their parent, they killed the Terror King in an instant. But as they looked in each other's eyes, over the corpse of the fallen Primordial, they knew things wouldn't be the same again. They saw only weakness in each other, and vowed to kill each other would their paths ever cross again. The two new Dragon Gods flew in opposite directions, pleased to know Iremía was once again a tranquil place. The Dragonborn Empires of Arkhosia and Malak The Terror King was defeated, but at a price: over 90% of all the dragons who once lived on Iremía were killed. This allowed the only sentient species in the world (the dragonborn) to flourish and take control of the land. On the western continent they founded the Empire of Arkhosia in the name of the Platinum Dragon, while the Empire of Malak was founded on the eastern continent for the Dark Queen. The two empires differed on many things, but the vast expanse of ocean between them made sure there was never a war. The two empires flourished, creating many cities and keeping a well kept infrastructure. Trade was abundant and life was good. Arkhosia's social structure was one of castes, leading to the rich having more than the poor. Despite this, even the lowest caste would be considered wealthy by modern standards. Malak had no such caste-system, instead relying on a person's own abilities to claim power for his own. In both empires the top of the social system was headed by a council of powerful dragons. The Council of Wyrms and a Threat Returned Most dragonborns worshipped either Bahamut or Tiamat and knew of no other gods than the two, but there were some who worshipped something else entirely. When financial growth of the two empires turned stagnant, several cults worshipping Primordials started to rise up everywhere. When conditions of every day life started getting worse, the cults gained more and more followers. Fearing a repeat of the what happened with the Terror King, Bahamut sent one of his must trustworthy exarchs to his sister to ask her for help. The exarch never returned and so the message was clear: Bahamut was on his own. He gathered around him the wisest and most powerful metallic dragons and founded the Council of Wyrms; a group dedicated to protecting the world from Primordial threats. He raised a forgotten land from the sea called Io's Blood Island for the Council to gather. The cults spread paranoia around the two empires, leading to the complete elimination of other religions. Bahamut was now the only one worshipped in Arkhosia, deity or otherwise. The same thing was true for Tiamat in Malak. Little is known about this time period because the ruling body in both empires controlled what was to be written. What is known is the Council of Wyrms went to great lengths to keep the Primordials out of this world, but they weren't very succesful. A World Complete Fearing his Council would not be enough to stop the Primordials from gaining control over the dragonborn, Bahamut asked for help from the other deities. They agreed to help him protect Imería, but only if their people could live on the land beside the dragonborn. Bahamut at first declined, proudly sticking to his father's dream of a peaceful world. In time however the love for his people forced Bahamut to accept the offer, and so it was the world of Imería was populated by the other races. The other deities connected Iremía to the Feywild and the Shadowfell. Together the deities managed to drive back the cults. The dragonborn especially found great partnership in the dwarves, who built great halls for the dragonborn treasures and fought side by side with them. In honor of Bahamut's new alliance, the Empire of Arkhosia first added Kord and Moradin to their pantheon, but soon allowed worship of all deities. Bahamut granted the dwarves the island of Oileán Baile, where they thrived and enjoyed a prosperity that would put the average dragon to shame. The elves felt out of place in the dragonborn's structured world of order and tradition, and so Bahamut and Corellon worked together to grant them a home. Bahamut raised a large, mountainous island just north of Oileán Baile and Corellon planted it with forests. They elves wouldn't be heard from for hundreds of years. The First War Pelor, sensing a great evil in the Empire of Malak, decided to let his human followers live on the eastern continent of Thoir. This angered Tiamat. mostly because she considered the continent her own and she never accepted any deities into the world. Malak declared war on the small human tribes. Arkhosia replied by sending an army to protect the humans, starting the First War of Iremía. The Empires were evenly matched and the battle raged on for many years, turning the center of Thoir into a wasteland with all the magical warfare. Nothing would grow again, and the wasteland received the name Desert of Desolation. The war was turned in favor of Arkhosia suddenly when the dwarves discovered the Underdark and travelled beneath the ocean to join their dragonborn allies on the battlefield. This caught Malak by surprise and their forces were driven back to their capital in the east of the continent. Bahamut prevented the joint army from advancing beyond the Desert of Desolation, honoring Tiamat's wishes to be left alone. But Tiamat also demanded Bahamut to shrink the Empire of Arkhosia to the same new size as Malak. Bahamut at first disagreed, staying loyal to his people. But Corellon changed his mind. The elven deity had send an emmisary from the Feywild to Bahamut, to explain to him about the devestation the war had caused in the Feywild: parts of the Feywild had become similar to the Desert of Desolation during the war. Bahamut, honoring his ally's request to allow nature to balance things out on the western continent, asked his people to relocate to a large secluded valley. This marked the end of the dragonborn's dominance of the land. Geography The world of Iremía featuers 4 major continents: the Frostfell in the north, Thoir in the east, Io's Blood in the south and Iarthar in the west. The continents differ greatly in geography. The Frostfell In the cold north is a vast expanse of ice known as the Frostfell. Ships sailing north eventually run into this massive sheet of ice that stretches to the horizon. Some sailors report seeing mountains far off in the distance with their telescopes. There are no known settlements on the Frostfell, but White Dragons and other fiersome cold creatures have been sighted. Thoir (main article: Thoir) Thoir is the Eastern Continent that used to belong to the dragonborn Malak empire. It was the first continent to accept the Celestial Empire as their governing body, on two occasions. The continent features many different environments, ranging from high mountains and snow covered fields in the north to jungles in the south and rolling fields in the between. But its most distinguishing geographical feature is widely accepted to be the Desert of Desolation; a huge wasteland of rocks and sand where nothing grows. Io's Blood The continent to the south is mysterious. Great storms, whirlpools and other natural (and magical) phenomena prevent most ships from reaching the shore. It is unknown if some ships ever make it to the continent; no ship ever returns. The only things known about Io's Blood come from old maps and stories. Iarthar (main article: Iarthar) Opposite of Thoir is the continent of Iarthar, formerly governed by the dragonborn Empire of Arkhosia. Iarthar is 'cut in two' from north to south by a long range of mountains, and no one has been on the western side since the heydays of Arkhosia. The Nentir Vale in the east is home to most of the humans who emigrated from Thoir. A desert hidden by mountains in the south is the home of what is left of the proud dragonborn of Arkhosia.